Students in Erie County hopeful after walkout

Schools join national walkout to honor 17 Florida victims, call for change: "These kids can speak out about what they want to happen."

Ed Palattella @ETNPalattella

As the snow and students swirled around her outside Erie High on Wednesday morning, Nyree Petty, a senior, made her point with the words on her T-shirt, which also had a large peace sign on the front: "We are victims, we are students, we are change."

Petty, 19, listed her ideas for putting that change into action.

"Stop the killing, the violence," she said, "all the negativity in the schools."

Thousands of students in Erie County shared Petty's sentiments on Monday, as they participated — along with students from across the United States — in the National School Walkout to protest gun violence and honor the 17 victims killed in the fatal shootings on Feb. 14 at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida.

Nearly every public school district in Erie County had students, whether in high school, middle school or elementary school, who participated. Students in Crawford County walked out as well, at Meadville Area High School and Saegertown High School.

The format for the 10 a.m. walkouts varied, though many students read the names of the 17 Parkland victims and stood in silence to remember them. Some events were moved inside because of the weather.

In Erie, the snow failed to stop about 1,000 Erie High School students, or about half the school, from walking out. Students at Northwest Pennsylvania Collegiate Academy, the district's other high school, gathered in their school's auditorium at the same time.

Many of the Erie High students gathered outside in the snow, at the front of the school, and others congregated in the auditorium. At both spots, students held anti-violence signs, spoke about the need for safer schools and stayed silent for a time.

"We just wanted to get the point across that these kids can speak out about what they want to happen," said one of the Erie High organizers, Cheyenne Camp, 18, a senior.

In Millcreek Township, more than 250 McDowell High School students gathered for a walkout shortly before 10 a.m. in the school's auditorium.

Morgan Williams, 18, a senior, organized a program for students with four other student speakers featuring a message protesting gun violence in schools.

"If there's anything we can take away from today, it's to tell students if you see something, say something," Williams said. "It was amazing. The support was overwhelming."

Brian Fuller, the high school's principal, said he and other school administrators were hands-off and let students organize the event.

"We've kept politics out of it. It's purely a show of support for the Parkland kids," he said. "I can't say we supported it, but we've allowed it."

The walkout was originally scheduled to take place at Gus Anderson Field along with students from McDowell Intermediate High School, but its location was changed because of the weather.

The intermediate high school participated in its own walkout in the school's gym where students gathered in silence for 17 minutes at 10 a.m.

Back at Erie High, Principal Mike Pisano said the walkout went smoothly, as the students returned to class shortly after 10:17 a.m.

"It was student-led," Pisano said. At Erie High, he said, the students "are allowed to speak their minds on a regular basis."

One of those students was LeSandra Andino, 18, a senior. Her message was on a cardboard sign. "We can't change the past," said the sign, which had peace symbols painted on it, "but we can change our future."

Andino said she wants students to feel safe.

"There's no excuse (for) why there should be guns brought into the school," she said. "We need more of a preventative way to protect ourselves while we're trying to learn. We shouldn't have to go to school and worry about if someone is going to come into our school and shoot up the place.

"We need something more," Andino said, "and this is what this protest is for."